Re: Do you think this is possible? (Detective-Mode)
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 8:36 pm
Thanks for the help guys,
I was actually thinking of contacting the police to see if they had a record of the reg etc, but I decided against it, since the police have better things to do and i'd feel a bit of a timewaster doing it
The dealer Arnold Clark didn't really seem interested in helping me either, as soon as they worked out i was not going to do any business with them, they couldn't get me off the phone quick enough. I'm sure if she spent 5 minutes looking she would have found something relating to the car!, but I just got fobbed off basically.
So i'm abandoning the search! Thanks anyway guys
I also had a similar experience earlier today at Benham BMW Wolverhampton. I've dealt with this same dealer for many years with my mini, Z4, 320, and now the X5 and every time getting them to do anything is a massive effort and I found them most unhelpful unless i'm spending big bucks on something.
Last week when I called up Halliwell Jones in Warrington expecting the same painful service, I ended up speaking to a guy in the Service department who sorted out my missing service history (as above) and spent ages talking me through the various works that had been carried out on my car there by the previous owner. I asked him a few technical questions and he seemed more than happy to help. I had to email him to confirm my order for the service book and I even commented how helpful he was compared with my past experiences with BMW.
Then today while I was out and about I popped into Benham Wolverhampton to get some more info on the car. i spoke to a helpful guy in the parts department who kindly printed off the 'factory options' list for my car, and he mentioned that if I went to see an advisor inside the branch; they could put my key into the reader and hopefully give me some more info that I was looking for.
But when I sat down with an advisor, it was the same painful process I had come to expect from Benham W-ton. The advisor was huffing and sighing away as soon as there was no sale involved and not the slightest bit interested in helping me at all. I explained that I'd bought a car with no history and was trying to get as much info as I could about the car, she was practically yawning by this point. I also asked about the possibility of getting the software updated on my car, but was swiftly told that unless there's a problem then there's no point. I mentioned that I had heard that doing the update can make some big improvements to the way the car drives etc and the guy in the parts department had just told me to come in and ask if you could read my key and tell me what software my car currently had.. But again she said this wasn't possible and there was nothing she could do. She passed me a card with the phone number of BMW head office on and said to try calling there.
I kind of felt the whole conversation was a polite-ish way of saying "look, I'm just about to go on my break...you're not buying anything and I really can't be arsed with your questions, so please F off..."
Which I did
I was actually thinking of contacting the police to see if they had a record of the reg etc, but I decided against it, since the police have better things to do and i'd feel a bit of a timewaster doing it
The dealer Arnold Clark didn't really seem interested in helping me either, as soon as they worked out i was not going to do any business with them, they couldn't get me off the phone quick enough. I'm sure if she spent 5 minutes looking she would have found something relating to the car!, but I just got fobbed off basically.
So i'm abandoning the search! Thanks anyway guys
I also had a similar experience earlier today at Benham BMW Wolverhampton. I've dealt with this same dealer for many years with my mini, Z4, 320, and now the X5 and every time getting them to do anything is a massive effort and I found them most unhelpful unless i'm spending big bucks on something.
Last week when I called up Halliwell Jones in Warrington expecting the same painful service, I ended up speaking to a guy in the Service department who sorted out my missing service history (as above) and spent ages talking me through the various works that had been carried out on my car there by the previous owner. I asked him a few technical questions and he seemed more than happy to help. I had to email him to confirm my order for the service book and I even commented how helpful he was compared with my past experiences with BMW.
Then today while I was out and about I popped into Benham Wolverhampton to get some more info on the car. i spoke to a helpful guy in the parts department who kindly printed off the 'factory options' list for my car, and he mentioned that if I went to see an advisor inside the branch; they could put my key into the reader and hopefully give me some more info that I was looking for.
But when I sat down with an advisor, it was the same painful process I had come to expect from Benham W-ton. The advisor was huffing and sighing away as soon as there was no sale involved and not the slightest bit interested in helping me at all. I explained that I'd bought a car with no history and was trying to get as much info as I could about the car, she was practically yawning by this point. I also asked about the possibility of getting the software updated on my car, but was swiftly told that unless there's a problem then there's no point. I mentioned that I had heard that doing the update can make some big improvements to the way the car drives etc and the guy in the parts department had just told me to come in and ask if you could read my key and tell me what software my car currently had.. But again she said this wasn't possible and there was nothing she could do. She passed me a card with the phone number of BMW head office on and said to try calling there.
I kind of felt the whole conversation was a polite-ish way of saying "look, I'm just about to go on my break...you're not buying anything and I really can't be arsed with your questions, so please F off..."
Which I did